Lawmakers on the Senate Rules Committee, after a contentious three-hour hearing Monday, supported the two bills -- SB 2036 and SB 2038 -- aimed at privatizing some correctional facilities and outlining how such efforts for other state agencies could be handled in the future.
Before a room packed with correctional employees opposed to the bills, senators on the committee back the effort, saying privatization will help the Legislature working to craft a budget that faces a $1.4 billion shortfall from the current year.
This is all part of the balancing act we have to perform, said Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, who is the primary sponsor of the bill and who chairs the Budget Committee that is scheduled to next hear the bill.
Some senators said security should trump the bottom line.
Im not going to try to balance the state budget on the backs of law enforcement at this time, said Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole.
Jones voted against the bill, saying he has yet to hear anything that assures him the safety of the facilities would be maintained.
Prior to the vote, the committee also added a pair of amendments to privatization bills -- requiring the officers at the privately run correctional facilities to pass Florida Department of Law Enforcement certification and requiring business plans for future privatization efforts.
The prison privatization plan, estimated by Alexander as potentially saving the state from $22 million to $45 million a year, was approved as part of the budget last year.
However, the 2011 effort was rejected by a Leon County Circuit Court judge who contended the action should be done as a stand-alone bill.
Under the dual outsourcing effort now before the Legislature, the state is seeking at least 7 percent savings by having the facilities run privately. The bills also would change the process for future state privatization efforts.
SB 2038, which is the stand-alone privatization of the correctional facilities, is scheduled to appear before the Budget Committee on Wednesday.
SB 2086, which has become the target of opponents, would alter how the state handles future privatization efforts to allow the process to proceed out of the public view until a contract is signed.
Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, who voted against the bills, questioned the language accompanying the certification process that required guards at privately run facilities to meet the minimum FDLE requirements.
Were not saying were bringing people who really know what theyre doing. Were looking at people at the very minimum. That really concerns me, said Bullard, who believes privatization needs to be heard by more than two committees and will bring a reduced level of security at the facilities.
Correctional officers questioned whether a privately run company, where they would be given preference in hiring, would mean lower pay and benefits in order to reach the states goal of 7 percent savings.
Many noted that they are already concerned about the direction of their department, which has recently announced plans to close seven state prisons and four work camps by July to save $75.8 million next year.
Alexander said the Department of Corrections would monitor the terms of any private contract as it does now with the seven privately run correction facilities in the state.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
